


The Dangers of Not Getting a Second Opinion

by Blackbirdy



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childbirth, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, inaccurate hospital policies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28126152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackbirdy/pseuds/Blackbirdy
Summary: Claire gives birth for the first time while Jamie is away on a work trip.
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58





	The Dangers of Not Getting a Second Opinion

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Twins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4575375) by [ke_xia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ke_xia/pseuds/ke_xia). 



After fourteen hours of labor, Claire was beginning to forget why exactly she had been so excited to be pregnant in the first place. With Jamie still hours away from the hospital that Claire had stubbornly driven herself to as soon as her contractions started, the only outlet she had for her frustration was relentless screaming as each wave of pain tore through her. Words like “push” had become nothing but abstraction, fading and blending in with the sound of doctors rushing around her. 

Nothing had ever hurt this much. But she was determined to get through it and meet her baby. All she had to do was stay awake no matter how much she just wanted to close her eyes. Feeling another contraction coming on, she held tight to the hand of the nurse accompanying her, squeezing with all her strength...

...and then promptly passed out. 

* * *

Claire was pulled out of unconsciousness by a strange but insistent voice. Labor had taken all the energy she had, and focusing on the sound was harder than Claire thought it would be. Everything felt, looked, and sounded muted from beyond a veil.

After another minute, she realized the voice was in fact the nurse who had earlier offered a hand for comfort. The fog refused to fully clear from her mind, but she did make out the tail end of a question being asked.

“... agree on?”, Nurse Kate said.

“Pardon?” The nurse smiled in sympathy.

“I said, dear, what name did ye and yer husband agree on?” 

“Oh, Brian. Brian Henry Fraser.”

“Oh, what a lovely…” Nurse Kate’s voice once again started fading though Claire could see she was still speaking. This wasn’t the typical fog of exhaustion, Claire sensed; had they put her under during labor? It would make sense, given her medical history. Still, before she let herself drift away again she needed some answers. 

Hoping she wasn’t interrupting the woman, Claire asked, “Where is my husband? Last I heard, he was on his way down from Inverness.” Nurse Kate pursed her lips, clearly trying to avoid disappointing her patient. After a beat of silence, Claire added “please, any news?”

“Well dear, I don’t know about your husband, but the traffic out there has been just awful. Inverness, you say?” Claire nodded stiffly. “Aye, there was some hold up down the road-- two huge trucks blocking almost every lane. But I’m sure your husband is doing all he can to speed right on over here. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear the birth went fine, and everyone’s in good health, if ye want me to ring him?” Claire nodded again, too tired for words.

Picking up the chart at the end of the hospital bed, Nurse Kate pursed her lips once again. Not wanting to hear anymore bad news, Claire gave in to the fog of sleep and let herself start drifting off again. Just before she was fully under, Nurse Kate spoke up once again. 

“Now, I know ye said Brian, but did ye have a name for a girl?” 

_Girl? I have a daughter!_ Claire thought. She hummed, content, and answered, “Brianna Ellen for a girl.”

“Yer sure? Ya ken tha…” She never heard the rest of the sentence. Until she had either a husband or a baby to hold in her arms, there was no reason she couldn’t catch up on her rest. 

* * *

“Ye canna be serious.” Jamie said, eyeing the birth certificate he’d been asked to sign. He wanted nothing more than to rush to his wife’s side and beg her forgiveness for being so far away-- he never should have agreed to a business trip so close to her due date-- but the nurses insisted it would be better if he completed the paperwork first. And this paperwork could not possibly be correct.

“We take legal documents very seriously here, Mr. Fraser. You can speak with your wife if you wish, but she was very clear about her choice.” The secretary looked at him expectantly, and handed him a pen. “Sign on the dotted lines please. Then you can proceed to the maternity ward on your left. Standard procedure keeps newborns under observation in room 206 while the mothers recover.”

Desperate to be done with it, the redhead did as he was told and handed the papers back. Now free to find his wife and newborn child, there was little time to be wasted. 

* * *

“Twins, Sassenach. We’ve a beautiful pair of twins.” Jamie’s smile was radiant. Still exhausted from her ordeal, Claire had yet to actually see them herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to be jealous when her husband’s joy was so clear on his face.

“Twins,” she echoed. “I suppose skipping the sonogram _was_ meant to keep the birth a surprise.” 

They shared a wry laugh. 

“So what should we name them then? We only planned for a son,” Claire said. Another wry laugh from Jamie. 

“Weel, mo ghraidh, ye’ll no have to worry about that. Ye must have been pretty out of it earlier, if ye dinna remember naming yer own bairns. The paperwork has already been processed an’ everything.” 

“It has? But what did they put for the names? I only gave the nurse the one name, ‘Brian’.”

The man Claire trusted more than anyone in the world, who she had pledged her soul to, who by all accounts was not a cruel man who would ever make a joke at the expense of his recently pregnant wife, only raised an eyebrow before answering. “Aye, ye did. You also gave her the name Brianna.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “Oh no. No, they did not.” 

Jamie’s clear delight in this turn of events led into hysterical laughter, as if he somehow found this funny. _Betrayal_. “Aye, they did.” 

“Now,” Jamie tried to act sober, but his giggles could not be suppressed, “would ye like to meet your children, Claire? Wee Brian and Brianna Beauchamp Fraser.”

“We are changing their names as soon as possible, Jamie. It’s simply cruel to them.” 

“If ye wish, my love, but I think they’re braw as is.”

“I hate you.”

“I love you too. I’ll go fetch them now, aye?” He pressed a kiss to her temple before leaving the room, the laughter under his breath never ceasing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please ignore all the unrealistic hospital procedure; I took some creative liberties for the sake of the story lol


End file.
